Latvia: Beer production down 16% in the first quarter of this year

In the first quarter of 2016, beer production in Latvia dropped 16 per cent year-on-year to 0.15 mln hl, the Excise Goods Administration of the Latvian State Revenue Service (VID) reported on May 19.

Beer imports in the first three months of this year were down 5.52 per cent from the respective period in 2015 to 0.17 mln hl.

Altogether 0.29 mln hl of beer were released for consumption in Latvia between January and March this year, this was a 8.49 per cent reduction from the same period in 2015.
In the first quarter of 2016, Latvia exported 18.17 thousand hl of beer, which was a 10.92 per cent decline from January to March 2015.
The Latvian State Revenue Service said that beer production in Latvia in 2014 declined 34 per cent year-on-year because Aldaris, a leading Latvian brewery, moved part of its production outside Latvia and significantly reduced its local output.

0.86 mln hl of beer were produced in Latvia in 2015, which is a 12 per cent decline from 2014.
Despite the slump, potential co-operation partners in China and Armenia have voiced interest in the products of Latvia’s Bauskas Alus brewery.

20 May, 2016